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#1: 62 MSHA citations Coal

Controlled by Robert S Toller
Norton, Wise County, VA  ·  Temporarily Idled
MSHA Mine ID: 4407362

#1 has $23K in proposed MSHA penalties and $118 outstanding across 4 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
1
Years on record
2016
Latest incident
Aug 2016
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2016
62
citations
24
significant & substantial
$22,865
proposed penalties
$20,927
paid to date
92% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $1,938 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
See Ridgetop Development LLC's full MSHA compliance history →
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2016
20
inspections on record
668
inspection hours
n/a
citations per 100 inspection hours
ⓘ This rate is recorded citations divided by MSHA inspection hours, per 100 hours. It reflects inspection effort, not mine size or production.
Rate withheld: 668 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

#1 has $23K in proposed MSHA penalties and $118 outstanding across 4 contested dockets.

Penalty disposition
ⓘ Differences between proposed and paid penalties reflect both settlements and conference reductions and amounts still owed. Outstanding is the balance currently owed.
$23K
proposed penalties
$21K
current assessed
$21K
paid to date
$118
outstanding
61 assessments are final orders; 4 contested dockets.
Of $12K in penalties contested before the Commission, $10K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2019-09-17.
Source: MSHA assessed-violations and conference/litigation data, updated weekly.
Violation severity profile
ⓘ Shares are computed over citations that carry the MSHA gravity and negligence coding; a small share of records are uncoded.
39.3%
significant & substantial
13.1%
high negligence or reckless
39.3%
reasonably likely or greater
59.0%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 9.8% low, 77.0% moderate, 13.1% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
When citations were contested
ⓘ Contesting a citation before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission is a lawful right. These figures state the public outcomes of that process, from MSHA's Contested Violations file.
6 citations taken to the federal commission · 10% of citations on record
  • Settled 4 · 67%
  • Stood as issued 2 · 33%
100%
S&S designation survived the contest
ⓘ Counts a Significant & Substantial citation as surviving when a settlement or judge's decision kept the designation, or the contest was dismissed or defaulted so the citation stands as issued. Vacated and withdrawn citations, and settlements that removed the designation, count against.
of 4 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
16%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$12K proposed, $10K after decisions · industry: 39%
Source: MSHA Contested Violations file (public record), updated weekly. A dismissed or defaulted contest leaves the citation standing as issued; a vacated or withdrawn citation is removed from the violation record. Latest contest filed 2018-10-18.
Contested penalties
ⓘ A reduction or dismissal at the Commission is a lawful outcome of contesting a proposed penalty. Figures are the proposed amount and the amount upheld in the docket's decision.
Largest penalties this mine contested before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, with the outcome on record.
Docket Decision Judge Year Proposed / upheld
VA 2018-0098 Default Lesnick 2018 $5K → $5K
VA 2019-0008 Settlement McCarthy 2019 $4K → $3K
VA 2017-0216 Settlement Rae 2018 $2K → $1K
VA 2017-0158 Settlement Rae 2017 $795 → $557
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at #1 shows 100% of 90 respirable coal dust samples met the 1.5 mg/m3 standard.

Health sampling
ⓘ A sample is a point in time compliance measurement, not an individual exposure history. These figures describe MSHA sampling records and do not establish causation or personal dose.

Respirable coal dust
ⓘ Respirable coal dust and silica figures cover coal facilities. Dust compliance is measured against the current 1.5 mg/m3 standard; samples predating the 2014 standard are included, so compliance rates are a coarse historical signal.

Last sampled: 2019-03-19, 7 years ago
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
90
samples
1.07
dust max (mg/m3)
3
over MSHA ECV
ⓘ The excessive concentration value (ECV) is MSHA's own per-sample enforcement threshold, which builds in measurement uncertainty; a sample over its ECV can trigger a citation. The count covers only samples MSHA assigned an ECV.
45 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 45 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR35
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR30
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER8

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2018-08-27, 7 years ago
40.4
silica avg (%)
7
samples
69.0
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR4
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR3
See US coal mines ranked by silica in their dust samples.

Noise
ⓘ The share counts noise samples whose measured dose exceeded the 90 dBA permissible exposure limit. It describes the sampled workplace, not what reached the miner's ear: hearing conservation programs and the hearing protection worn during the shift are recorded separately and are not reflected here.

Last sampled: 2019-03-19, 7 years ago
0%
over PEL
20
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • BACKHOE OPERATOR5
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR4
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER4
See US mines ranked by noise samples over the legal limit.
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.
Health sampling trend
ⓘ A sample is a point in time compliance measurement, not an individual exposure history. These figures describe MSHA sampling records and do not establish causation or personal dose.
Respirable coal dust by year
ⓘ Respirable coal dust and silica figures cover coal facilities. Dust compliance is measured against the current 1.5 mg/m3 standard; samples predating the 2014 standard are included, so compliance rates are a coarse historical signal.
Year within 1.5 mg/m3 samples
2019 100% 4
2018 100% 32
2017 100% 23
2016 100% 31
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2018 17.7 3
2017 65.6 1
2016 54.6 3
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2019 0% 2
2018 0% 6
2017 0% 5
2016 0% 7
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

#1 recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2018.

Injury rate, 2018
ⓘ This rate is reportable injury cases per 100 full-time-equivalent workers per year, computed as 200,000 times cases divided by MSHA operator-reported employee-hours. Cases are injuries MSHA graded degree 01 through 07; accident-only events that hurt no one are excluded, and so are contractor injuries, whose hours do not attach to a single mine. Rates begin in 2000, when quarterly employment reporting starts, and are withheld below 20,000 hours in a year.
0.00
total case rate
0.00
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
No reportable injury cases in any year shown. Employee-hours were reported in each of those years, so these are true zeros rather than missing data. Citations, listed in the compliance record above, are inspector-found violations and are counted separately from worker injuries.
Below average. The US coal mining average was 3.34 and the all-US-mining average was 2.33 cases per 100 workers.
In Virginia, coal mining averaged 3.65 cases per 100 workers that year.
Under 100,000 employee-hours were reported that year, so a single case moves the rate by two or more. Read the figure as approximate.
Year total case rate days-away fatal
2018 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2017 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2016 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
* Fewer than 100,000 employee-hours that year; the rate is less stable.
Source: injury cases from MSHA accident and injury records; employee-hours from MSHA quarterly employment reports. Rate is cases per 100 full-time-equivalent workers, operator employees only.
Ownership history
  1. Ridgetop Development LLC 2015 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
ⓘ Coal production is reported quarterly and lags the current period; the most recent quarters may be incomplete.
Year Employees Coal produced (tons)
2022 0
2021 0
2020 0
2019 0
2018 24 100,423
2017 26 130,807
2016 20 123,619
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

#1 sits in Wise County, Virginia, where the Census mining category is 5.9% of county employment.

Local economic context
ⓘ County figures come from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey, 5-year pooled estimates, so the 2023 vintage covers 2019 through 2023. The Census category is 'mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction', which is broader than MSHA jurisdiction and includes oil and gas workers no mine employs. These figures describe the surrounding county, not this mine, and are not a factor in any specific incident.
Wise County, Virginia · Population 35,727
5.9%
Mining share of county employment
$50,740
Median household income
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 5-year estimates.
Quarterly safety rates
ⓘ Citations per million reported employee-hours. Rates begin in 2000, when MSHA's quarterly employment data starts; earlier incidents are counted but cannot be rate-adjusted. Quarters under 100,000 reported hours are greyed: too few hours for a stable rate.
Citations per million employee-hours, as reported to MSHA
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2022 Q3 0 0 0
2022 Q1 0 0 0
2021 Q4 0 0 0
2021 Q3 0 0 0
2021 Q2 0 0 0
2021 Q1 0 0 0
2020 Q4 0 0 0
2020 Q3 0 0 0
Show 17 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2020 Q2 0 0 0
2019 Q4 0 0 0
2019 Q3 0 1 0
2019 Q2 0 0 0
2019 Q1 0 8 2
2018 Q4 3,271 0 0 0.0
2018 Q3 14,039 5 2 356.2
2018 Q2 19,184 2 0 104.3
2018 Q1 18,881 8 2 423.7
2017 Q4 18,485 2 0 108.2
2017 Q3 19,168 0 0 0.0
2017 Q2 20,824 2 2 96.0
2017 Q1 18,890 8 3 423.5
2016 Q4 16,560 0 0 0.0
2016 Q3 16,901 11 6 650.8
2016 Q2 10,806 2 2 185.1
2016 Q1 5,607 6 1 1070.1
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

2016 · 1 incident

August 22, 2016 VA · Coal FIRE
Ridgetop Development LLC · Accident type, without injuries

Machine was working, loading hay, trucks in pit #51 when a truck driver observed fire dripping from the belly pan, causing was determined to be a ruptured fuel line.